"They weren't as effective on Saturday": F1 pundit highlights a potential red flag in Red Bull's dominance

F1 pundit Scott Mitchell-Malm mentioned that Red Bull weren't quite as effective on Saturday in the 2023 season despite having 12 pole positions in 22 races.

The Austrian team experienced one of the most dominant seasons in F1 history, winning every single race barring one in Singapore and notched up 860 points, including 30 podium finishes between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

While appearing on The Race podcast, Mitchell-Malm recognized that Red Bull had the fastest car in qualifying but were vulnerable on quite a few occasions given both of their drivers weren't able to get the front row lockouts that they wanted. He said:

"They weren't as effective on Saturday, which is a ridiculous thing to say if you look at the numbers, that's why you frame it that way. I think the Checo element feeds into that because you've got a car that's not perfectly set up for Saturdays but set up brilliantly for a Sunday and a driver as Perez is not one of the best qualifiers in F1, he is probably one of the weakest."

He added:

"But he's a fantastically reliable operator on a Sunday When he has the car underneath him to be confident and drive in the way that he wants to,"

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen compares the RB19 to RB18

Max Verstappen stated that the RB19 has been better in every single area than the RB18. In his post-race press conference in Abu Dhabi, the Red Bull driver also pointed out the reliability of the car.

He said:

"Well, in general, the car has been better than last year and we were very solid in terms of no retirements, and no real issues on the car which of course is also a big key to that. From my side, every single year I try to do better but I think better - it's more about just general experience in F1 and trying to put the weekend together a bit more.

He added:

"Some weekends works better than others. And then yeah, besides that, just try not to make too many mistakes. Try not to get too much damage on the car with the cost cap and stuff, these kinds of things which I think worked quite well.

It will be fascinating to see if Red Bull can resolve their Saturday issue and get both drivers to qualify well in the upcoming season and if they will be given more of a challenge by their rivals.